Abstract

The clinical, radiological, and pathological features of the 'oligohydramnios tetrad' (Potter's facies, limb malpositions, pulmonary hypoplasia, and growth retardation) resulting from chronic amniotic fluid leakage are described in 2 infants who died of respiratory failure within 12 hours of delivery. A third infant with a partial form of the syndrome had prolonged respiratory symptoms and survived the neonatal period: the course of the disease and the radiological findings were compatible with a hypothetical diagnosis of partial pulmonary hypoplasia. Pulmonary hypoplasia should be recognized as a cause of chronic respiratory symptoms in viable infants.